Organ



Feb. 27, 1940. H, wm 2,191,734

ORGAN Filed March 4, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F' fa a f2 ,j 1,1/

'In 'Illing III/11111111. '11111111114 vll/1111111 r11/1,11. '11.011,111 vll/lill rllllllllll -1 f'lzglllln ull/01 11111111111 Feb. 27,1940. .1;H. WICK 2,191,134

oRGA'N Filed March 4, 1959 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Feb. 27, 1940 rA'i-ENT orrics oRGAN John H. Wick, Highland, Ill., assignor to Wicks Organ Company, Highland, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application March 4,

9 Claims.

This invention relates to organs; and has special reference to pipe organs.

It is generally known that an acoustic probl lernv must beovercome in order to obtain proper 5l sound effects from pipe organs between the frequenciesof fifty and one-hundred ninety cycles, regardless of the shape and size of the enclosures, rooms, or buildings in which the organs are located. It has been established that sounds 'Hr between i'db. are inaudible `to most people and to the average person. The soundsproduced by pipe organs have peaks and liollows which must be modulated and 'brought approxiy mately to i2 db. in order to produce the de- 15 sired melodic progression and tonality, irrespective of whether the organ music is transmitted through instruments remote from the organ, as When the entire pipe organ is located in some out-of-the-way place and only the console and 210y the speaker are where the musical tones are to be heard; or the organ is located in thefpresence of the audience.

Objects of the invention are to provide an improved pipe chamber or enclosure having 25, means therein for producingfan even pick-up of tonality, approximately. between thirty cycles and ten thousand cycles, thereby bringing the peaks and hollows approximately to i2 db.; to provide a nearly sound-proof enclosure for the 3a pipes so that the sounds from the various pipes are modulated to nearly even relative strength and quality throughout the entire range of 4frequencies involved; to provide such an'enclosure for the pipes that will dispense with the use of shutters or the like for effecting the different degrees of expression or power necessary for melodic tonality; to provide a novel baffle arrangement, and a microphone located and arranged in a novel cooperative relationship to 40 the pipes and the baffles within the enclosure; to provide an enclosure having its vertical walls provided with linings of novel form and function and having a racl; board covered with a pad of soft fibrous material; all of which features cooperate to prevent the developmentv of uneven tones with undesirable peaks and hollows, and to modulate the sounds to that melodic progression and tonality necessary in perfect organ music.

w' Another object or" the invention is to provide an improved pipe organ comprising an enclosure having the vertical walls thereof lined with soit and loose fibrous material, in combination with a pair of upwardly diversi-ng baffles extending. froml front to rear of the enclosure and 1939, Serial No. 259,726

composed of wall elements covered on opposite sides with soit fibrous material; all arranged in a novel cooperative relationship to a microphone supported upon the horizontal padded rack. bar; objections mentioned in connection with the problems yherein stated are overcome and eliminated.

Other objects will appear from the following description, reference being made to the annexed drawings, in which- Fig. l is a horizontal sectional view through the vertical walls forming the enclosure of my improved pipe organ.

Fig. 2 is a front view showing the front wall removed and the inclined baffles in section.

Fig. 3 is a front-to-rear vertical sectional kView onthe line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

The enclosure for the organ pipes may be movable as shown, and is provided with a vertical side wall l, two vertical end walls 2, a vertical front wall which may be in the form of a door movable from closed position to open position to afford access to the inside of the enclosure, and vice versa; a top wall 4, a hori- Zontal wall or partition 5, and a bottom wall t cooperating with the wall 5 and with the walls l, 2 and 3 to form a wind chest l. Within the enclosure the pipe rack 8 is supported above the iloor or partition 5 by a series of legs 9. The numerous vertical pipes lil' extend vertically through the pipe rack c and open into the wind chest 1.

The special bass device ll is located near the upper rear central portion o1" the enclosure in balanced complementary relationship to the two series of pipes lil arranged in the manner shown in Fig. 2 with the smallest pipes of each series toward the center of the enclosure and the longer pipes toward the ends 2 of the enclosure.

Each of the vertical walls l, L' and 3 is lined with a soft and uncompressed layerl l?. of cotton, a brous material possessing characteristics which I have found essential for the attainment of the best effects and results. The layer of cotton along each vertical wall is held in place by a light loosely woven textile fabric i3 and fasteners I4, such as small nails orbrads, passing through the fabric i3 and the layer l2 of Cotton and driven into the Vertical walls I, 2 and 3. These devices hold the layers of cotton Spread uniformly against the walls, support the cotton permanently in proper position, and prevent the cotton from becoming disarranged.

The'top Wall 4i is not provided withl this ilbrous so that, when the organ is played, the

cotton lining, and I have determined by actual practice and tests that no such fibrous cotton lining for the top wall is necessary or needed.

and that better results can be obtained without it. A layer I5 of felt, which is also a brous material possessing yielding and other characteristics necessary for purposes of the present invention, covers the upper surface of the rack board 8 and is provided with holes through which the pipes I0 extend. The layer I5 of i'elt may be secured to a section I6 of plyboard or the like to which it may be attached before the plyboard is placed upon the rack board 8.

Rigid horizontal supporting members I'I are located near the rear and front walls of the enclosure approximately midway between the end walls 2 and substantially above the subjacent pipes I D and between the longer pipes of the two series and substantially below the bass device II. The enclosure contains a pair of baffles each composed of a wall I8 of material so unyielding and inflexible that it will not bend under its own weight, and having attached to its upper and lower surfaces a layer I9 of soft cotton having approximately the same fibrous characteristics as the layers I2 that line the vertical walls of the enclosure. Each layer I8 of cotton is covered by a section 2f! of light loosely woven textile fabric like the fabric I3, and secured to the walls IS by nails or brads 2l passing through the fabric sections 2U, the layers I9 of cotton, and into the stiif walls I8. In practice, I have found that plyboard may be used to form the walls I8.

Two bales are provided in the enclosure and arranged so that they diverge upwardly from sup-porting engagement with the members I'I toward the end walls 2 to engagement with the top wall 4. This arrangement leaves the lower ends of the baffles separated by an intervening space 22, and presents padded wall surfaces toward the longer pipes IIJ and toward the bass device Il. The borders of these baffles may be enclosed in frames 23 which cooperate to strengthen the baffles and to provide confining means for the edges of the layers I9 of cotton and the edges of the fabric sections 20.

A microphone 24 is located centrally within the lower portion of the enclosure upon the layer I5 of felt, and transmits the sound waves from within the enclosure to an amplifier (not shown) near the place at which the music is to be heard. This microphone is located upon the horizontal iibrous layer I5 between the vertical brous linings I2 and below the open space 22 between the lower ends of the baffle walls.

It will be understood that this organ is controlled by remote volume control devices for elective different degrees of expression or power. By this invention, the usual shutters for controlling expression are eliminated, the organ can be brought from the softest to any power desirable, depending upon the position of the usual swell pedal (not shown) attached to a. familiar volume control device. The position of the microphone within the enclosure is an important factor; and, to produce best effects and results, the microphone must be located as shown, approximately at the lower central portion of the enclosure below the upper ends of the pipes and below the open space 22. The thickness of the fibrous cotton lining upon the walls and upon the baffles may be varied from the normal thickness of about two inches where different conditions permit. The location of the microphone at the point indicated and the presence of the felt pad I5 eliminates undesirable resonant points in the higher frequencies.

The bass I I, sometimes referred to as the sixteen-foot bass, in the rear upper central portion of the enclosure obtains a balance between it and the higher frequencies on the manuals, and it is necessary to locate the pipes and the bafiles in the relationship thereto about as shown, in order to avoid any unevenness that would result from placing certain pipes in the way of others and preventing tones from developing properly, or preventing proper pick-up by the microphone.

Of course, the `dimensions of the enclosure may be varied to suit specific requirements, in which case the dimensions of the bailles therein are changed and their locations with respect to the pipes properly determined.

By constructing and arranging the organ substantially in the manner disclosed, all of the desirable eifects and results stated at the beginning of this specication are attained. The complete organ assembly, including the enclosure, may be made up at the factory and transported to the location desired, where the remaining equipment necessary, including the console and amplifiers, may be located and operatively connected with the organ as required.

The invention may be varied as widely as the scope of equivalent limits will permit without departure from the nature and principle of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. An organ comprising enclosing walls forming a compartment having two laterally disposed series of vertical pipes therein, layers of iibrous material lining the walls beyond the sides of said series of pipes, two upwardly diverging baffle walls having their lower ends separated by a space and their upper ends near the top of said compartment, layers of fibrous material covering the upper and lower surfaces of said baille walls, a rack board near the bottom of the compartment, and a microphone mounted near the vertical axis of the compartment substantially below said space that is between the lower ends of said baille walls.

2. An organ comprising enclosing walls forming a compartment having two laterally disposed series of vertical pipes therein, layers of fibrous material lining the walls beyond the vertical sides of said series of pipes, two upwardly diverging baille walls supported in said compartment and having their lower ends separated by a space and their upper ends near the top of said compartment, a rack board near the bottom of the compartment through which said pipes extend, and a microphone mounted near the vertical axis of the compartment in balanced relationship to said two series of pipes and substantially below said space.

3. An organ comprising enclosing Walls forming a compartment, a rack board above and near the bottom of the compartment, two laterally disposed complementary series of vertical pipes in said compartment extending downwardly through said rack board, layers of loose cotton lining said enclosing walls around the vertical sides of said series of pipes, two upwardly diverging baffle Walls having their lower ends separated by a space and their upper ends near the top of the compartment and extending above the major number of the pipes of each series of pipes respectively, a layer of matted brous material covering the upper surface of said rack board, and

a microphone mounted near the vertical axis of the compartment substantially below said space between the lower ends of said baflie walls.

4i An organ comprising vertical top kand bottom walls forming a compartment, a rack board near the bottom of said compartment, two laterally disposed complementary series of vertical pipes in said compartment extending downwardly through said rack board, two upwardly diverging baille walls extending from front to rear in said compartment above said series: of pipes respectively and having their lower ends separated by a space and their upper ends near the top of the compartment, layers of cotton covering the upper and lower surfaces of said'bale walls respectively, sheets of textile fabric covering said layers of cotton, means for supporting said sheets of fabric and said cotton in connection with said baffle walls and preventing displacement thereof, and a microphone mounted near the vertical axis of said compartment substantially below said space and spaced equidistant from the respective complementary pipes of said series of pipes.

5. An organ comprising enclosing walls forming a compartment, a rack board near the bottom of the compartment, a sheet of felt covering the upper surface of saidrack board, two laterally disposed series of complementary vertical pipes in said compartment extending downwardly through said sheet and said rack board, two upwardly diverging cotton baffles having their lower ends separated by a space and their upper ends near the top of said compartment, means for supporting said cotton baffles in fixed positions within the compartment, a bass device located near the rear central portion of the compartment equidistant from said bailles and in balanced complementary relationship to said two series of pipes, and a microphone mounted near the vertical axis of the compartment substantially below said space.

6. In an organ having a rack board, two laterally disposed complementary series of vertical pipes extending downwardly through and upwardly beyond said rack board and having the pipes of each series of graduated lengths. and the shorter pipes of the series toward each other, and walls forming a compartment containing said pipes and said rack board; layers of cotton lining said walls around said series of' pipes, sections of textile fabric covering the inner surfaces of said layers of cotton, fasteners passing through said sections of fabric and layers of cotton and into said walls and loosely supporting said cotton and said fabric, upwardly diverging baille walls extending above said series of pipes respectively, a layer of cotton covering the lower sides of said baflie walls, means attached to said baffle walls supporting said layers of cotton in connection therewith and preventing displacement of said layers of cotton, and a microphone supported by said rack board below the lower ends of said baille walls and below the planes of the upper ends of most of said pipes.

7. In an organ having a rack board, two laterally disposed complementary series of vertical pipes extending downwardly through and upwardly beyond said rack board and having the pipes of each series of graduated lengths and the shorter pipes of the series toward each other,

and walls forming a compartment containingv said pipes and said rack board; a layer of felt covering said rack board, upwardly diverging cotton baiile devices above said series of pipes respectively and having their lower ends separated by a space, and a microphone supported by said rack board below said space and below the planes of the upper ends of said pipes.

8. In an organ having a rack board, two laterally disposed complementary `series of vertical pipes extending downwardly through and upwardly beyond said rack board and having the pipes of each series of graduated lengths and the shorter pipes of the series toward each other, and walls forming a compartment containing said pipes and said rack board; a layer ofk feltcovering said rack board, two upwardly diverging cotton baiiles above said series of pipes respectively hav ing their lower ends separated by an intervening space, a bass device between said baiiles, and a microphone supported by said layer of felt below said space near the vertical axis of the compartment.

9. In an organ having a rack board, two laterally disposed complementary series of vertical pipes extending downwardlyL through and upwardly beyond said rack boardand having the pipes 0f each series of graduated lengths and the shorter pipes of the series toward each other, and walls forming a compartment containing said pipes and said rack board; two upwardly diverging baffles above said series of pipes respectively having their lower ends separated by an intervening space, a bass device between said baffles above said space, and a microphone supported by said 'rack board belowv said space and below the planes of the upper ends of said pipes near the vertical axis of the compartment.

JOHN H. WICK. 

